Getting sanitized: NIT-K professor develops affordable disinfection chamber

Team Udayavani, Apr 15, 2020, 2:35 PM IST

Mangaluru: A Chemistry professor of NIT-K(Surathkal), along with a research scholar has developed a disinfection chamber named ‘ZERO-COV’ to disinfect personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, surgical masks, vegetables, packaged food items, currency notes, and other day-to-day items without damaging them.

Arun M Isloor, professor and head, department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, (NITK) Surathkal along with research scholar Syed Ibrahim developed this disinfection chamber. Isloor and his team have been using this lockdown period in research that will help in controlling the spread of the virus.

Speaking to Udayvani.com “I have used an old unused refrigerator as a box and used three types of Ultraviolet lamps, A-type, B-type and C-type, each one that consumes 11 watts of electricity, which is very low and also environmental friendly. The C type radiation also called as UV-C has a wavelength of 254 nanometers and is the main feature of the product. It can destroy the nucleic acids of any germs present on the surfaces.”

“UV technology is well proven and accepted by the scientific community and the WHO has also recommended it for surface disinfection. This is commonly used as a disinfectant in hospitals, laboratories, and water treatment plants,” he added.

Further speaking about the chamber he said, “By placing items including vegetables, currency notes in the disinfection chamber for 15 minutes one can ensure destruction or inactivation of bacteria and viruses by 99.9%.”

“This chamber can be prepared using any closed box as well. A small chamber with a single UV lamp would cost around Rs 500. This chamber can be built using any unused object made of metal or plastic and can be placed at the entrance of the house or office,” he informed.